"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6
This morning, I dragged my extremely exhausted self out of bed and went to church for the second Sunday in a row with my sister.
I really haven't made the effort to go to church in recent years, somewhat because of school and work. But a lot of it also had to do with the fact that a lot of churches seem to be focusing more on hate and intolerance rather than love and acceptance. Its why I originally loved the church I went to freshman year in Tucson, and then it is also why I stopped going.
Its just... the foundations of 'the church's' message changed when the old pastors were rotated out and the new one was rotated in. AGAIN, this is just another example of how its not the true message that pushes many away, but rather its those 'examples of Christ' who often twist around the words in the Bible for their own political agenda. Hate is hate, no matter how you look at it and no matter who you say is supporting your hate. God doesn't support anyone's hate. Plus, if you spend too much of your energy trying to keep other people down, you will have none left to raise them up. And that is what faith is supposed to be about -- unconditional love and finding faith in those when no one else sees it.
Today, Lauren and I met our cousins Holly & Heather at the Methodist Church Holly got married in back in June, where they also currently attend. The pastor that married Holly (who I really like and usually just preaches at the Sunday evening service) actually spoke this morning, which was good. And I can honestly say its the first time I've really enjoyed church in a long, long time. I wouldn't even mind going to church on Sunday evenings if it was to hear him speak. That pastor and I had even had some really interesting conversations at the rehearsal for Holly's wedding about how churches spend too much time pushing people away, rather than embracing them, so I really value his message and tried to pay attention more. He's one of those pastors I truly believe does this work for God and the love of man, rather than himself.
Afterwards, the cousins, Lauren and I all went to lunch... and it was nice. Really, really nice. Its also the second Sunday in a row that my sister and I have spent more than an hour together and not fought... which is incredibly unusual anymore.
Who knows. Maybe my cousins, sister and I will end up there next week.
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